Feasting

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We are invited to a table, we may be disinclined because of the neighbourhood, however, the One who invites us has a plan. We must trust that we will be safe at that table and that the food is delectable.

Fear can cause us to shy away from the invite. Faith says, “why not?” If you are used to answering in faith and responding to the One who invites, then all will be well. If not, the sight of your enemies may scare you off. Why are they there? To watch you enjoy a beauful feast with your Lord, and know they were not invited. They had their chance eons ago and rose up in pride against Him, now they grovel around in the dirt seeking to dissuade His new family from joining Him. They once lived in glory, now in darkness.

He annointed my head with oil. If you read you Bible Samuel did this to Saul and David to show they were chosen by God to be kings. Yes! You are chosen to rule and reign with Him.

My cup overflows with blessing! They is nothing my Jesus will not do for me as I trust Him in all my ways.

His goodness and mercy follow me all my days! Not bad! He is good! He is merciful! He surrounds me with His love and blessing! I am cherished and honoured by Him!

Give them up

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is a promise! We need to believe that God does care and that He wants to hear from us.

Yesterday I had a hearing test. On the way to the test I asked the Lord that the person testing me would have wisdom and know how best to treat me, I asked for the Lord’s blessing. The woman was brilliant and I walked out with a borrowed hearing aid and the promise of two such aids worth $8,000 without needing to pay a cent. What a blessing! 

We must believe that God has the best plans for us, that He will indeed work for us. Believing that God loves us can be a challenge especially if we have not know a loving relationship with a parent. However, God the Father is indeed a good father. Jesus told a parable about the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). That son wanted his inheritance and ran off to a foreign land where he blew the lot on wild living. Finding himself destitute and hungry he came to his senses and thought, ‘I will go home to my father and tel him I have sinned and ask for a lowly servants position in his house.’ He did this, but the father loved the son so much he would not hear of making him a servant, instead he threw a party and welcomed him home. The son did not deserve such good treatment, however it displayed the goodness of the Father.

Our Heavenly Father is constantly looking for His lost children. Are you one? Why not come on home!

Turn

“Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.”Matthew‬ ‭18‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What sins was Jesus referring to? The disciples had just asked Jesus: “who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God?” For me this is a given- Jesus! We know from other scriptures that the disciples were always striving to be great in the Kingsom of God, they wanted position and power. Therefore, in light of this we could pride, vanity, self-promotion, etc. 

Yesterday I attend my home church in Tamworth, my pastor made a fuss of me and had people pray over me, whilst it was nice It was not why I went. I wanted to know what God was doing. What was He saying today? He was talking about forgiveness. After church I wanted to catch up with a particular friend, my pastor tried to talk to me but he was constantly interrupted by people who needed to talk to him. I really appreciated his effort and love him for his faithfulness.

 I sat down with my friend to talk but others came wanting to talk to me. I was not as kind as I could have been, the friend I wanted to talk to was a faithful prayer warrior and she was my focus.

I am awake in the wee hours thinking about my behaviour. On the way to church I had prayed that the Lord would bring people to me He wanted me to talk to. Perhaps these  people were just the ones He wanted me to talk to and I missed the opportunity by wanting my way.

Oh Lord may Your grace and mercy rule! Thank You for interrupting people! Amen!

For us

“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus was brutalised for us, for me! Yet, these words I read hardly pierce the hardness I sense around me. I am visiting an old friend in Australia who lives in front of the TV. There was a time when she was open to the Lord but now she seems closed, it is the hardness she surrounds herself with. How many others are like her? Many! The darkness here is different to that in Nepal, here is indifference, there is millions of demons vying for attention but an openness for friendship. Friendship here is what can you do for me? Friendship there is sitting outside on the kerb chatting whilst we watch the children play.

Today I will visit my old church. In Nepal the Nepali Christians sing with gusto, they pray together like there is no tomorrow. Their hunger for God is palpable. What will I find today?

The TV controls here! Nepalis, mostly do not have TVs, however, they do have smartphones. They are grandually taking away the attention of the masses.

People insist on trying to make themselves whole, however, Jesus paid a high price for our wholeness. He suffered so that we could be restored, to be delivered and set free. We cannot keep going into bo dage to entertainment! Amen!

Each generation

“For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.”Psalms‬ ‭100‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Lord has been faithful to me, I saw His faithfulness to my parents and know my great grandmother was a praying believer. I know the Lord’s hand is upon my grandchildren, and I am grateful.

This psalm was attributed to king David. The Lord’s promise what to him and his line,  Jesus came from David’s line. “Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.”2 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬. Both Mary and Joseph were from the house of Judah, David’s tribe.

As a believer I place my hope in the Lord for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Like my grandmother I pray for my family and trust the Lord for them to seek His face. No matter what the world dishes up the Kingdom of God remains stable and will fulfill all prophesy.

Cheerful giving

“You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”2 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The challenge when there appears little in the basket to give is to withhold. However, withholding has to do with fear. Fear comes from mistrust, and mistrust comes from not knowing the One who holds all things together.

However, faith says, “let’s step out and spread the bread on many waters and see what returns!” Let’s see what God will do on my behalf!

My quest is to determine what is bread and what is seed. Seed is for sowing and bread is for eating. If a farmer eats all their seed there is none for sowing and conversely if they sow all their seed there is none for eating. However, getting it right steps into the world of miracles.

I am always looking for miracles, they are the fun part, they are filled with God’s presence. The same comes when I decide to travel the hard way, alone and in a long process of travel. This sometimes is on foot. Today I will go on foot and see who God has for me to meet. I plan to go to a Bible study, but the fun will be on the journey there. Who will I meet?

Yes walking is a form of giving, it is a forsaking of ease to find the one God has on His heart. This is the adventure! Yesterday I did just that and met the woman I first met in Sydney catching the train. She was walking down the street with her husband. She was overjoyed at finding me again. God has a plan for that woman.

Trust

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Yersday I awoke at 3:45am and prayed about the day, read my Bible and sang worship songs as usual. I was to walk to the domestic airport and then train it to Sydney’s Central Station and then train it to Tamworth. I had read online that the train to Tamworth left at 7:30am. I left the motel at 5am. Sydney had changed and so I used my Google Maps. Found the train and discovered I didn’t need a special pass card, just had to tap my Visa card and off I went. At Central it was cavernous and I prayed for direction. I asked a guard and found the ticket office. I discovered I was hours early. However, outside the ticket office were many homeless people sleeping. I thought, ‘here is an opportunity!’ I sat down among them, got out my ukelele and began to worship. I was aware they might be annoyed with the intrusion and only one showed annoyance but said nothing. The presence of God came. One person (I say person as I could not distinguish the sex) came and said it was like waking up in heaven. Well that was nice and so I began to share Jesus. This person had a hard and bitter heart and I encouraged them to think about Jesus’ sacrifice for them. The next conversation was with a man named Steve who was ready to talk. I shared with him and his barrier was people. I encouraged him to look beyond people to Jesus who loved him.

The next two conversations were with Australian ladies travelling, one would be on my train and one was travelling to Perth on the India Pacific. The woman travelling to Tamworth and I had a good conversation, God touched her heart as she was looking for ‘what now I am retired’. The other woman sensed something in me and would have loved to talk more but our train was leaving.

Next, I sat next to a Muslim man almost all the way. He told me I was respectful and loved knowing me. He did not know much English but he allowed me to pray for him.

What a blissful experience! At Tamworth I was collected by an elderly friend who told me, ‘ I knew I would be well as soon as I spoke to you this morning!’ My friend has been troubled with illness. What a testimony!

When I had found myself two hours early for my train I boldly stepped up and asked God to use me, He did!

My life is not my own, it is His! May today be filled with Him! Amen!